nobody said:
now the physical one wont replicate. i have seized all roles on dc2. tried
to run dcpromo /forceremoval on dc1 but failed
I must agree with Kevin and everyone else as to not use a Ghosted DC.
Here are 14 steps to manually force remove a DC.
1) On another DC in the domain run NTDSUTIL to move the FSMO's, er seize
them! DOH. (If this is the only DC, then don't worry about it)
2) Make sure DNS is 100% solid on the working DC. (If only one DC, don't
worry about it for now, but configure it correctly before promoting it to a
new DC).
3) Make sure working DC is also a GC. (If just one DC, don't worry about
it).
4) Boot corrupted DC into DSRM, edit the registry change
HKLM\SYSTEM\CCS\Control\ProductOptions change the ProductType value from
LanmanNT to ServerNT. This key dictates if the machine is a DC or just a
server. ServerNT means it's not a DC.
5)Command prompt > net stop ntfrs to stop FRS.
6) Delete the Winnt\Sysvol and NTDS directories.
7) Reboot the now former DC
8) Log into the now member server. Change it to a stand alone, by joining a
workgroup (My Computer Properties, Network ID tab, remove it from the old
domain).
9) Reboot the now stand alone server.
10) If there is only one DC in the domain, skip this step, otherwise, on the
good DC delete the disabled computer account for the old, now defunct DC.
11) Now on this new stand alone machine, set the Primary DNS Suffix to the
new domain name that you want (In My Computer. Properties, Network ID Tab,
Properties, More,). Reboot.
12. Make sure that DNS is configured with the new domain name and updates
set to YES.
13. Run DCPROMO to create a new domain or join the domain/tree/forest again.
14. Reboot.
Ace